For my second cyclocross race, I joined my friend Andy again, at Mansfield Hollow Cross in Mansfield, CT.  Coming from Boston, I arrived a little late and had barely enough time to register, ride one practice lap, and make it to the start before the Cat 4/5 race started.

My goal was to be more aggressive from the start than I had been for my first race.  Since I was late, I started near the back of the group of 65 and had lot of opportunities to do so.   On the first lap I was able to pass a lot of riders.  After that I settled in with 4 or 5 other riders until pulling away on lap 3.  I was able to hold the gap I created, finishing in 23rd place at the end of the 4th lap.  Andy finished 22nd, so he has bested me both times so far.  Overall, I really enjoyed this event; the track was fun but challenging (slightly over 2 miles,  with a good mix of terrain: fast and wide-open, tight with lots of turns, sand, several obstacles and a few short-but-steep hills), the weather was great, there was plenty of free food and drink to enjoy post-race, and I was happy with my results.  I recommend this race to anyone in the area and am hoping to make it back next year!

Afterwards, we watched Andy’s youngest son, Myles, in the kids age 9-12 race.  He finished 11th of 25 despite dropping his chain a few times.  I was impressed!

For the second half of October, I have two more races in mind  and am hoping to continue improving my results.  Rachel is planning to race those events, too, so I’m excited to watch her!  It’s been a lot of fun for me so hopefully she will enjoy it just as much and we can do more together next year!

• The other two races I mentioned above that we plan to do:
  • Fruitland’s Cup of Cyclocross in Harvard, MA (October 22nd)
  • Cheshire Cross in Cheshire, CT (October 29th)

Below is a video someone else posted of themselves riding the same course, but in the Cat 1/2/3 race: